Pressure is on Lowndes

AFTER last weekend's round of the 2011 V8 Supercars Series at the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge in Victoria, the championship is going to Jamie Whincup or teammate Craig Lowndes.

Whincup claimed pole position for Saturday's and Sunday's races. Despite a couple of off-track adventures, he was able to take back top spot on the timesheets during Sunday's qualifying session from Lee Holdsworth, posting a time of 1.09.67 with just two minutes of the session left.

The only major contact made during the race was on lap 50 of 65, between Alex Davison, Steve Johnson and Russell Ingall, with Johnson getting turned around, causing he and Ingall to be dropped far down the race order.

At the end of the race, Whincup took his 10th race win of the year and extended his series lead points.

This means that Lowndes' fight will be tough, because he now trails Whincup by 188 points out of a possible 300 that are up for grabs at the final round in Sydney.

Both Team Vodafone drivers drove well in Sunday's race, but Whincup's slightly better qualifying result led to a start-to-finish win, with Lowndes finishing fourth behind Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison.

If Lowndes had not come back from qualifying 27th for Saturday's race to finishing in fifth position, Whincup might have already had the trophy in the cabinet.

That great drive means Lowndes is able to battle it out on the streets of Sydney for the title.

However, neither Whincup nor Lowndes has finished on the podium at the end of the Sydney Telstra 500 race.

The Sydney Telstra 500 is said to be three days of incredible, non-stop entertainment, combining the action of the V8 Supercars on track and two nights of amazing concerts.

This year, the popular Armor All Auto Show promises to be Australia's largest private car show, with a host of private collectors showing off some priceless vehicles from all around the country.

And finally, from race cars to cartoons coming to life, fans of all ages are in for an awesome experience as Disney Pixar's CARS Truck Tour makes its final V8 Supercar stop at the Sydney Telstra 500.